It is watched by millions of fans, and has launched the career of some Teesside celebs.

But Geordie Shore is to be reported to Ofcom by health academics after their research led them to claim it is “one long advert for drinking”.

The study by teams at the universities of Bath and Nottingham found almost four out of five scenes in the TV show included some form of alcohol.

Authors of the paper, published on Sunday, have now called for clearer alcohol warnings at the start of the MTV programme and the removal of all branding from it.

They examined seven hours of footage over 10 episodes of season 11 and found 78% of scenes contained alcohol content, 30% of scenes contained actual alcohol use and 72% contained inferred alcohol use.

The study says almost a quarter of scenes featured alcohol brands, with vodka label Smirnoff appearing most frequently.

And more than 60% of brand appearances occurred in episodes which, when released on DVD, were classified by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) as suitable for viewing by people aged under 18.

The cast of Geordie Shore in Middlesbrough (Image: Terry Blackburn)

Professor John Britton, from the UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies at the University of Nottingham, said: “From a health perspective, this series of programmes represent one long advert for drinking in general, and for Smirnoff, Grey Goose and Corona in particular, for a teenage and young adult audience.

“I am surprised that the companies that market these brands are happy for their products to be promoted in this way.”

The research team is calling for action to address the findings, highlighting the “potentially young target audience for Geordie Shore, the wide reach of MTV and evidence that media exposure to alcohol promotes alcohol consumption by young people”.

Prof Britton added: “We expected to find alcohol content across series 11 of Geordie Shore but not at such high levels, or the prominence of particular brands.

“Given MTV’s target audience can be as young as 12, this really is a concern and runs counter to a raft of public health measures currently designed to curb the excesses in drinking among young people, and counter to the policies of the companies which market these brands with respect to advertising to children.”

The research team will raise its findings with Lime Pictures - the production company behind Geordie Shore - as well as MTV, Ofcom and the BBFC.

It would like to see clearer alcohol warnings at the start of Geordie Shore episodes, the removal of all branding and adult age classifications for programmes released on DVD.

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Lead researcher Dr Jo Cranwell, from the University of Bath’s department for health, said: “We would be interested to hear from MTV about how many under 18s are watching Geordie Shore and if they are prepared to moderate the amount of drinking in it.

“At the very least the drinks industry has a duty of care not to expose those under the legal drinking age in the UK to their brands. Codes of practice are of course already in place by many companies not to associate their brands with excessive drinking or drunkenness.

Why were the TV cameras out and people queuing in Northumberland Street on Saturday?

“Whilst it may be the case that they are not aware of the amount of visible branded content in Geordie Shore, we believe that they absolutely should be and we will follow carefully their response to our findings.”

The study formed part of a wider programme of research exploring alcohol content in a range of media.

MTV says the show is not aimed at young people and is broadcast after 10pm. It also denies any product placement.

The show launched the career of Holly Hagan, while ex-Love Island star Sam Gowland became the latest Teessider to join the cast.